Broken Road Café 1 - The Broken Road Café (10 page)

“Carlos Delgado? I do know
of
a Carlos Delgado, but I can’t be sure it’s the same man.”
Nick’s eyes narrowed, and he leaned back in the flimsy hospital chair. “This Mr. Delgado resides in Atlanta, works for a trucking company called”—he checked his notes—“Randolph and Mays as some kind of operations officer. That’s all the information I was able to get out of him at this point.”
What in the fuck? Maybe the drugs were better than he remembered, and he was just having a nice hallucinogenic dream. Things were all mixed up in his head because of the changes in his life and he’d had a big, solid meal and all this would go away in the morning. All Dan needed was a couple of AlkaSeltzer, a good piss, and he’d go back to sleep and have a sex dream about him and Jake Gyllenhall as his Persian sex slave.
Dan reached under the covers and pinched himself, blinked his eyes a few times, and rolled to get up to go to the kitchen for a glass of juice. And promptly fell back into bed, pain pounding at his shoulder like a sledgehammer, and he wanted to howl and beg for his momma. Two strong hands grabbed him and gently shifted him back onto his back in the bed. “Damn idiot. Now they’ll think I hit you with my baton or something.”
His breathing finally slowed down, and Dan was able to get his head back in the game. “Police brutality. Help. He has me naked and pinned to the bed. Citizen’s arrest.”
“Very funny.” Nick settled back into the chair and glared at Dan. “Now, if comedy half hour is over, can we get back to the matter at hand? Namely, Mister O’Leary, Carlos Delgado and why he shot your ass.”
“Actually it was my shoulder.”
Dan could feel the frustration rolling off Nick and couldn’t help but grin a little through his pain and confusion. If he hadn’t been shot, he’d call the interview over and demand it be moved to another day. He really needed some time to try to get his head around what was going on.
“Maybe you think this is some kind of game,” Nick growled. Dan rolled his eyes. “You were shot, and it could have been a lot worse than a shoulder wound. A few more inches one way or the other, and it would have taken you out here”—he leaned forward and tapped Dan’s forehead—“or here,” he said softly, resting his palm on Dan’s chest, over his heart. “Attempted murder is nothing to sneeze at, Dan. Please, help me out here. I can’t do my job if you aren’t honest with me. And I get the feeling you’re stonewalling me.”
Shame washed over Dan, and he was startled by it. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes. “Right before I left my law firm, I was…assigned to defend an employee of a new client. Keep in mind here, I specialize in forensic accounting and contract law, and haven’t done any criminal defense work since mock trials in law school. When I complained, I was told to take one for the team.”
“Go on.” Nick’s voice was suddenly soft and gentle.
Dan opened his eyes and rolled his head sideways on the pillow to meet Nick’s gaze, suddenly exhausted. “I told them to take this job and shove it. I didn’t work my tail off ten years to make partner then to be asked to take one up the ass for a drug dealing asshole. Excuse me, alleged drug dealing asshole. And said asshole’s name was Carlos Delgado.”
Silence stretched between the two men, and Dan closed his eyes again. He almost dozed off when Nick’s voice shook him back into the room. “So let me get this straight. You were asked to defend Delgado on dealing charges—yeah, that info is on his rap sheet. You quit. Did you ever meet with this guy?”
“Are we still on the record? Wait, doesn’t matter. No, I never met him. At the partner’s meeting—that’s where we discuss progress on existing cases and assign new ones—our managing partner blindsided me with the case. I threw it back in their laps, then went home and had one of the worst days of my life. Reconsidered a lot of things in my life, and ended up kicking my partner out of my house and kicking my partners to the curb too. They bought me out and I started looking for something else to do, and long story short, decided to buy a restaurant and start over.”
“And you ended up in Blue Ridge. And yes, we are still on the record. So you never met him. And your firm is still representing him?”
Dan heaved a sigh. “I guess. I’m not part of the firm anymore, but you can ask Delgado I guess. Or I can give you the number of the managing partner. Seems he and my ex know each other pretty well too. Lots of unexpected connections and hook-ups I never thought about. Including—” Dan gave Nick a long look, more tired than he’d been in forever. “That’s all I know, Chief. I’m exhausted. Can we cut this short?”
“Sure.” Nick turned the recorder off and tucked it away. He sat, looking at Dan, who was too tired to banter with the man any longer. “Can I get you anything? Some water? Juice? Soda?”
“You don’t have to be nice anymore, Nick. Nobody’s here and the recorder’s off.”
“Is that what you think of me? That all I care about is what people think about me and keeping a good public face?” Nick slowly stood, his fists clenched as he glared at Dan.
Dan grabbed the call button, hitting the control to dim the overhead lights. “Good night, Nick. If you need to ask me any more questions, come back tomorrow. I’ll try to see if there’s anything else I can remember.”
Standing there, so tense and brittle Dan was surprised the man didn’t break into a million pieces, Nick finally turned and made his way out the door, stopping to look back with a hard glare. Dan met it, trying to let it move through him without damage. When Nick closed the door and he could hear the man’s shoes move down the hall, Dan finally released a breath he didn’t know he was holding.
Damn him anyway. Nick Oliver could just fuck himself. Dan closed his eyes, finally surrendering to the exhaustion and pain, and his last thought before he slid into sleep’s embrace was how it felt to surrender to Nick. And how those chocolate brown eyes burned across him and lit him up like he hadn’t felt in years. *
Dan had heard all the jokes about nurses waking patients up to give them sleeping pills, but he never thought the cliché would be so true. Of course, having your nurse be the sister of the man you knew biblically didn’t help matters any. Not that he was sure Cathy knew that, and he would never out Nick, but the hourly blood pressure checks, slamming of drawers and constant flipping on and off of lights was getting to him. Finally, after having a thermometer shoved in his mouth for the sixth time he could count that night, Dan had had enough.
“Do you have something you need to say to me?” Dan caught Cathy’s gaze as she held the instrument in his mouth. He wasn’t sure she was going to answer, and he waited while she recorded the reading in his chart and turned her back to him.
Just when he was about to close his eyes and try to get another half hour of sleep, she turned around and studied him for a long moment. “I’m not sure I like you.”
Dan laughed, surprised. “I wasn’t aware that was a prerequisite for providing nursing care for someone. After the night you’ve put me through, I’m pretty sure I don’t like you either. But just for shits and giggles, wanna tell me why you don’t like me?”
Narrowing her eyes, Cathy crossed her arms and leaned back against her computer workstation. “My brother’s a good man. I heard part of your conversation last night, and I can tell there’s something between you two. Not that he’s come right out and told me he’s gay—he’d rather cut off his right arm—but trust me, I know. The boy’s dated women, but I’ve seen how he looks at them. And then I saw how he looked at you when he brought you in last night.” She shook her head. “Let’s cut the bullshit. Don’t mess with my brother if you don’t want him.”
“I think this is a conversation you should have with him. Not me.”
“Maybe.” Cathy gave him a hard look. “But I have you here, and being a captive audience and all that, you have to listen to me.”
Dan was quiet for a long moment, weighing his words carefully. He felt she was fishing, but maybe not. Either way, he didn’t appreciate her keeping him awake all damned night just because she could. “Actually, no I don’t. Your name might be Cathy, but you aren’t Kathy Bates in
Misery
. You and your brother, you need to schedule some time and have a little brother-sister, bare-the-soul chat. But leave me out of it. Nick is the chief of police. I was shot. He had to question me. End of subject. Now, this hourly harass the patient bullshit? It ends now. Or shall I have a little chat myself with the head of nursing services and the patient advocate? My law degree looks really nice on my wall, but it sure does get the attention of hospital administrators.”
Tension crackled in the room, and Dan put on his best I’ll-eat-you-alive face. Finally, Cathy cracked a genuine smile. “I take it back. I think I like you, and my brother better watch himself around you. He might just have met his match.” She shook her head and turned to leave, flipping the light out. “Oh, and Mr. O’Leary? Have a good nap. I’ll see you next hour, and I’ll take your temperature and blood pressure again. You want to complain about me? Fine. When I leave your arrogant ass alone and you come down with a septic infection and your blood pressure and temperature spike because I let your pitiful butt sleep an extra hour and I lose my license and a patient, let’s see how much you bitch about losing a little sleep then.”
Cathy closed the door before Dan could think of a reply. “Well damn,” he said to the empty room.

Dan looked up from his seat in the booth at the Blue Moon and smiled at Patsy. It’d been two days since his release from the hospital after the shooting, and other than soreness, Dan was feeling pretty good. The bullet had passed through soft tissue and muscle, missing anything major. He’d need a sling to keep the stitches from pulling for a couple of weeks, and he was taking a ten day course of antibiotics, but he felt back to normal.

Motioning the mayor to take a seat, Dan folded his newspaper and cleared the space in front of him. “Your Honor, good to see you. Feeling pretty good, all things considered. Care to join me for some breakfast?”

Patsy slid in across from him and motioned for Jake. “No better place to eat in the city, darlin’. And no better company. I heard from underwriting, and the sale here went through, so congratulations are in order.”

“Thanks, ma’am. I’m really looking forward to things settling down and finding a place here. Honestly, I can live without the excitement though. Is this how the Chamber of Commerce rolls out the red carpet for all new business owners?”

Smiling up at Jake, Patsy ordered coffee, juice, and an omelet. Settling in, she smiled wide. “Just for our favorite ones. So”—she batted her eyes demurely—“it was
très
lucky you happened to be outside talking to Nick when you were shot. Right after he…ran into you in the house you were looking at, was it? Speaking of which, isn’t it a wonderful home? Perfect for a single man, lots of room for when he partners up. And right next door to the chief of police. No place safer.”

Dan turned a blank face to her. “Except for when those pesky snipers decide to take a pot shot at you.”
“Well, I hope that was a one-shot deal. So to speak. Unless you have a string of unhappy people after you, in which case maybe we should get you a condo at the courthouse.” Her eyes twinkled.
“If anyone could sell me a piece of a government building, I imagine it would be you.” He leaned back and smiled at her. “You could sell refrigerators to the Eskimos, honey. And yes, the house was wonderful. In fact, it was the best of the three I wanted to see. It’s good to see you this morning—I want to make an offer on that house.”
Patsy looked…smug, and he wanted to smack her. “I knew the view would be the best selling point.”
“What view?”
“Of all that yummy goodness next door.” Her face was positively evil.
“Actually”—he raised an eyebrow—“I was considering a privacy fence.”
Chuckling, she shook her head. “You just keep telling yourself that, honey. Maybe you’ll believe it one of these days.”
“I don’t know what you think is going on, but I can guarantee you that there’s nothing between me and your chief of police. He’s investigating the shooting, and other than that…well, let’s just say he’s not my favorite person in town.” Dan played with his silverware with his good hand and held Patsy’s questioning gaze. “Chief Oliver has been nothing but a pain in my side, and honestly? That sister of his isn’t much better. Maybe there’s some genetic flaw, some inbreeding or something in their past?”
Patsy choked and sputtered coffee everywhere. Dan smiled, covering it with his napkin. When she got herself under control, she fanned herself and then swatted at him. “You are
evil
, I swear. Trying to kill a sweet old woman who’s just trying to take care of who she thought was a sweet young man. My goodness, inbreeding? I do declare, honey, you’ve been reading too much V.C. Andrews. Next thing you know, you’ll be accusing me of hitting some bad man over the head with a skillet and barbequing him and telling everyone the secret’s in the sauce.”
Leaning back in the booth, Dan chortled. He hadn’t had so much fun in years. “Remind me never to get on your bad side, Patsy. I’d be a little stringy and your dinner guests would have to stop off by the Hardee’s in town after they left your house. I’d make a much better dinner guest than main course.”
“We’re going to be the best of friends, honey. I can just tell. Now, tell me something I don’t know— are you going to change much here at the café? We may be Old South here, but we can do change pretty well. As long as we get it in dribs and drabs and can spread it around and gossip about it. And you know if you don’t have anything nice to say, come sit by me.”
Slapping the table, Dan grinned. “I do love
Steel Magnolias
. And yes, you will be my gossip buddy.” Leaning forward, he looked around and motioned her forward. She leaned in greedily. “I do plan to rename the restaurant. But I think, for the most part, I’m gonna leave the inside pretty much alone.”
Patsy practically smacked her lips at the thought of getting a leg up on the news, Dan saw. “Honey,” she whispered, “whatever are you naming it?”
He motioned her even closer. “The Broken Road Café.” He sat back, his smile wide and victorious.
“Oh, baby doll. I
adore
that song.” Patsy closed her eyes and Dan could see her mouth the name silently, trying the name on for size. “It. Is.
Perfect
.”
“I thought so too. It’s new, catchy. And most folks around here will be familiar with the name because of the song.”
“Now”—she caught his gaze and suddenly he felt all the hairs on the back of his neck stand up—“I know the song, and evidently you do too. So, who did the broken road lead you to?”
Oh holy hell, I didn’t think about that part of it.
Dan’s mouth fell open, and he cringed at the look of triumph on her face. “Now, Patsy, it’s not like that.”
“Right.”
“No, really, Patsy. It’s not him.”
“Who?” She looked so damned innocent, and he wanted to smack her.
Dan’s jaw clenched. “Chief Nick.”
“Yeah, Slick? Can I help you?”
Dan and Patsy both jumped and looked up at the tall figure standing at the end of the booth. Patsy recovered first, cutting her eyes at Dan then turning her full mega-watt smile on Nick. “Precious! I was just asking Danny here who he credited with saving him after that awful man shot him. We are all just so lucky you were there, Nick. Whatever would we do without you?”
Nick ignored Dan, focusing all his attention on Patsy. “Well, let’s hope you never have to find out, hon. You know, I
do
have an image to uphold and all that.” Dan flinched, regretting his harsh words to Nick at the hospital the last time he’d seen him. Nick had sent a deputy out to ask him some follow up questions regarding Delgado and their relationship, or lack thereof. Maybe he’d try to get a few minutes alone with the man and see if he could apologize.
Patsy kicked Dan’s leg under the table and jerked her head to get his attention. “Aw, Nicky, now everybody here knows you’re just a big old softy underneath all that…” She looked him up and down, and Dan almost growled at the way she all but salivated. “
Hard
exterior. Don’t you agree, Dan?” Her innocent act was perfection, and Dan wanted to grab Nick’s gun and shoot her right there.
“I don’t know, Patsy. I’ll bet the chief’s hard all the way through. And damned good at his job. Nick”—he turned his focus to the chief, hoping he’d hear his sincerity—“I never did have the opportunity to thank you properly for catching the man who shot me the other night. I wasn’t much help, I know, and was probably a little…cranky. I’m sorry. And thank you.”
Nick met Dan’s gaze, and the flatness he saw there would have daunted a lesser man, but Dan had been before judges that made him pee a little in his pants, so he held his own. After a couple of minutes, Nick nodded and the corners of his mouth crooked upward slightly. The ice between them melted, and a rush of heat flared. Dan brought his coffee cup up to his mouth, taking a quick swallow then licking the rim. He saw Nick’s cheeks color and figured all was good between them again.
“If you boys are going to exchange looks like that, you might want to warn a lady. I’ll skip my hormones and just let—as my granddaughter would say—your
hawtness
warm up my menopausal flareups.” At the stunned looks on both of their faces, Patsy rolled her eyes and motioned for Dan to scoot over so Nick could sit. “My son and his boyfriend live in Miami Beach, and I’ve been to the White Party, so get over yourselves. Plus, you two left the sheets all mussed up and messy at the Fountain Lane house that night. Now, Nick, not many of the folks here know you’re queer as a three dollar bill, but save the gay panic for someone who cares. Take a lesson from Danny here and relax, don’t do it when you wanna come.” She did a little disco dance.
Nick dropped into the booth seat and exchanged open-mouthed gapes with Dan. Then they both turned to Patsy and neither could say a word. “Close your mouths, darlings. It’s a really unattractive look. Oh look, here’s Jake. Want your usual, Nick love?”
That shook Dan out of it, and he asked for a refill on his coffee while Jake distributed his and Patsy’s food and took Nick’s order. When things quieted down at the booth, Dan could tell Nick was freaked out. He was staring at the table, his gaze down and his countenance flat, so Dan decided to give him a break. “Nick, do you have any other word on Delgado?”
Nick slowly turned his attention to Dan, and something clicked, like a switch being flipped. With a quick, harried look at Patsy, who sat taking dainty bites out of her cheese omelet, he turned back to Dan. “The probable cause hearing is before lunch, so if you want to sit in on Judge Oliver’s courtroom today you can meet District Attorney Roger Fredericks. And your old buddy Greg Simkins will be there, Dan.”
Dan dropped his fork, his heart skipping a beat. “Excuse me. Did you say Greg Simkins is here? Is he counsel for Delgado?”
“Yes, and no offense, but he’s a real piece of work. You worked for him?” Nick reached across Dan, grabbing a couple of packets of sweetener and the container of cream as Jake made his way back across the café and set a large mug of coffee in front of him. He tore the packets open, dumped the contents in, and swirled in a dash of cream with his spoon. “I’m surprised nobody took a pot-shot at him.”
Dan leaned his head back and banged it gently against the back of the booth. He closed his eyes and sighed loudly. “Greg Simkins. Well, just so you know and can hate him”—he opened his eyes and looked over at Nick—“or not, he’s been sleeping with my newly minted ex for the last few months. The same ex I caught in bed with my best friend and his partner.”
He watched as Patsy’s fork paused on the way to her mouth, her eyes widening, and Nick’s mug hit the table hard, splashing coffee. As Nick grabbed for a couple of napkins, he let out a low whistle. “Damn, Slick, you really know how to pick ‘em, don’t you?”
“I’d watch that mouth of yours, considering where it was a couple of nights ago, there, champ.” Dan sat back up and picked at the toast and fruit on his plate.
Her head jerking back and forth like she was watching a tennis match, Patsy huffed out a laugh. “Boys, this stuff is better than my story on the TV.
Days of Our Lives
, hell. This here’s
The Middle Aged and the Horny
.”
“Speak for yourself, doll. I’m a few years from middle aged, and Barney Fife here is what? Thirtynine? Forty?”
“Fuck you,” Nick muttered. “Thirty-two.”
Dan cracked a smile. “I do like my younger men.”
Turning around and making sure no one was paying attention to their conversation, Nick glared at Dan, then turned a stink eye to Patsy. “I would appreciate it if you two would keep the
Will and Grace
routine to a minimum. Some of us aren’t carrying around gay pride flags. I happen to have a reputation to uphold here.”
Dan sighed and reached his good hand into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet, dropping a few bills on the table, and pushed against Nick with his hip, nudging him to let Dan out of the booth. “Aaand this is where I came in. What time’s the hearing, Chief?”
Nick stood, his face stuck between anger and confusion. “Eleven. And what did I say?”
“Nothing, Captain Closet,” Dan mumbled. “Madam Mayor, always a pleasure. I’ll call you later and we can put in that bid?”
Patsy looked back and forth between the men, her brows knitted. “Sure, baby doll. You okay?”
“Nothing some fresh air won’t take care of. It gets stuffy sitting too near a closet. Or a closet case. Have a good morning. Jake.” Dan nodded to the waiter, giving him a smile. He walked slowly away from the pair at the table, wondering why his good morning had turned to shit. *
The courtroom was small and not at all like the ones Dan was used to appearing in back in the city. On the other hand, it felt a lot cleaner and more like he imagined it would be when he was in high school and dreamed of being a lawyer. There were quite a few spectators; the city paper even sent a reporter to cover the case, and Dan gave her a few comments before shooing her away when the bailiff made his way in and started shuffling around.
He’d seen Greg sitting at the front of the room, nose buried in his laptop as he prepared his remarks. But what stopped his heart for a beat or two was his companion. Abe sat next to him, dressed in a suit he swore wasn’t in his closet a few weeks before. On the other side of the court sat Nick and a man, fortyish, who Dan guessed to be the district attorney. He wondered for a brief moment if he should sit up front when Nick turned and caught sight of him. To his surprise, Nick motioned for Dan to come over, so he quietly made his way up the outside of the row of benches and took a seat a row behind Nick.
“There are a couple of other cases on the docket, but Delgado should be up quick,” Nick said quietly. “It’s just a formality, shouldn’t be any surprises, but it’s good you’re here.”
Glancing over at Abe, Dan clenched his jaw. “I hope so. The one sitting over there’s enough.”
Nick’s brow furrowed, and he turned to the defense side and looked, just as Greg shifted his gaze and caught sight of Dan. The lawyer smiled the prissy little grin Dan hated and laid a hand on Abe’s arm and leaned over to whisper something in his ear. Abe glanced over and, seeing Dan, leaned in to Greg as if he was going to say something, but shook his head and sat back.
Nick leaned back with a disgusted look. “Christ, he really is an asshat, isn’t he?”
Dan started to answer when papers rustled as the bailiff called out, “All rise. Court will come to order. The Honorable Judge Wallace Oliver presiding.” Nick and the attorneys on the front row turned as a copy of Nick—older, the features not as fine, but showing what Nick would look like in twenty years—strode into the court and took a seat.
As Nick predicted, a few cases were on the docket before Delgado’s. They were quickly disposed of, and then the bailiff called out, “The State of Georgia, County of Fannin, versus Carlos Delgado.” Charges were read, and in addition to attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon, Dan was surprised to hear resisting arrest and assault on a police officer, as well as possession of a firearm by a felon. Carlos Delgado was a very bad boy, it seemed. Greg stood with his client and, of course, they pled not guilty.
The district attorney, Roger Fredericks, gave a preliminary outline of the case against Delgado and asked that bail be denied. Dan gave a little start, as he had forgotten about the possibility of bail. Greg stood and talked about the outstanding moral character of the man, his wife and kids, his ties to the Atlanta community and his important job at the trucking company. Then Fredericks rebutted with his felony record, which included drug possession and assault, and the pending possession with intent to distribute charges in Atlanta.
The judge practically rolled his eyes and denied bail and remanded Delgado back to jail. As the man stood, he turned and glared at Dan. A chill ran down his spine, and the bailiffs quickly bundled him out of court. This was evidently the last case on the docket, and Judge Oliver dismissed court.
As everyone stood and began to file out, Dan waited behind to talk with Nick and the prosecutor. He put his back to the defense side of the room, expecting Greg and Abe to make their way out and back to Atlanta. Fredericks extended his hand, and smiled as Dan reached out to shake it, admiring the man’s strong grip. “Mr. O’Leary, it’s good to see you up and about. How’s the shoulder doing?”